Death of Benton Co. Jail inmate ruled an accident

The Benton County coroner says a 29 year-old man who died after suffering a seizure at the Benton County Jail last year died from asphyxia.

Kevin Culp was brought to the jail in mid-December.

A day after he arrived, he suffered a seizure and was moved to an individual cell.

Two days after that, he suffered another seizure.

When jail staff members entered the cell to help him, the coroner says Culp put up a fight and struck two officers.

Officers then tased Culp and subdued him.

They placed him in a restraint chair and moved him to an individual cell.

When officers checked on him a short time later, Culp was unresponsive.

He was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center, where he died eight days later.

"A lot of those inmates have mental health issues, a lot of them have medical issues, and most of them have behavioral issues. So things happen very quickly, and the officers have to make split-second decisions that are later scrutinized for months even years to come by experts. But what I know about this incident, is that the officers and nursing staff did what they thought was right at the time" said Benton County Sheriff Steve Keane.

The Benton County coroner has determined the cause of death to be asphyxia in a restraint chair as a result of a seizure.

The manner of death has been determined to be an accident.

Sheriff's deputies are still investigating the incident to determine how they can prevent something like this from happening again.